1st XI v Orpington | Cricket Report 01/08/20

The second fixture in the Corona Metropolitan League took Beckenham down to Goddington Dene to play Orpington.  With skipper Alex Senn following the footsteps of Doc Martin in Cornwall with maybe a spot of tin mining, the ship had Captain Blake at the tiller with Midshipman MacVicar making an appearance. 

Having won the toss and elected to bat, the now hirsute Finnan Bryan sallied forth to open the innings with Rithik Hari.  Against the opening pair of Alex Langford (Dad umpiring) and James Fotheringham, the pair made decent progress and 50 was on the board before first-change Richard De Mel (Dad scoring!) accepted a return catch from Bryan (20).  The same bowler accounted for James Fear who had opened his account with a splendid leg-side boundary before edging behind to Connor Brook.  Hari then had the experienced Jason Bilimoria for company and the two pushed the score onwards at a decent rate before Hari, just short of fifty, was trapped in front by Luke Lane’s left-arm spin.  He made that a brace a few runs later by bowling Bilimoria for 27.  Johan Malcolm then began to open up in partnership with Mahi Mahfuzul and the score rattled along with a stand of 64 until Hayden Alcock struck to dismiss both in the space of two overs to leave Beckenham on 189-6. 

Now the pyrotechnics began with the two Beckenham ‘Big Guns’ at the crease.  Will MacVicar, playing his first game of the season, had started carefully but then started to open up.  Blake, as he does so often, allowed himself a mere three deliveries before ignition.  The Orpington fielders became helpless spectators as the Blake bat swung in a majesty of exquisite timing to send the ball vast distances.  The inevitable fifty came in just 16 deliveries as, with MacVicar joining in, 87 runs were added at breakneck speed before MacVicar fell to Watts for 29 with the overs running out.  The final score was 280-8 with Blake unbeaten on 59 and the home side in awe of Kent’s famed white ball ‘finisher’.  Orpington never lost their heads, bowling and fielding with commendable discipline and enthusiasm.

The home reply got away to a promising start but then MacVicar and Mahfuzul took a wicket each to make the score 18-2 with the veteran Prince Sterling battling away.  MacVicar struck again at 23 and Orpington were in some bother.  Blake then rang the changes and paired the most promising left-arm spin of Ishan Sabharwal with the bustling seamer Alex Purwar.  De Mel showed a lot of class and found solid support in Arun Kaushik.  The pair pushed the score along in fine style until De Mel lofted Sabharwal hard and high to the mid-wicket boundary.  Enter James Fear, skipping the light fandango at a furious pace, to take a splendid boundary catch the great Alan Ealham would be proud of.  Purwar then removed Kaushik by courtesy of a typical Malcolm slip catch ‘like plucking cherries’ and Orpington were in deep trouble at 74-5.   Watts and Brook then worked hard to get the innings back on track as Blake persevered with spin.  He himself made the next breach by bowling Brook but Orpington kept going through Watts and Robinson with a rapid 50 partnership ending with a tragic run out with both batsmen at the same end and Watts was on his way for a fine 36.  Robinson (43) then departed through a smart stumping by ‘Barney’ Balmforth and, as the overs ticked away, there was just enough time for a bright little stand of 39 between skipper Robinson and Hayden Alcock before Sabharwal struck one more time to leave Orpington on 222-9.  It had been a splendid game of cricket played competitively and in the right spirit and was much enjoyed by players, officials and spectators alike.